"The ceremony marked the culmination of several weeks of transition operations and regional handovers in Tall Afar, Qayyara and Mosul, as many units under the operational control of Task Force Olympia worked in conjunction with 101st Airborne Division soldiers to ensure a seamless transition of authority." [more]

"When Bush was elected, activists had employed irony ... we'd deconstructed traditional protest models, reaching the limits of play and camp. By the time Resolution 909 came along, we were faced with the painful question: What do you do after post modernism? You can't live on irony alone; there is too little to show for it. So we re-embraced a canonical narrative of 'straight' protest ... If we are going to suggest that another world is possible, we'd better be able to suggest that this world is more than simply ridiculous." [more]

A selection of political highlights from the Central American press in early February 2004. [more]

"This period between regimes is precisely when the most devastating betrayals have taken place ... Again and again, newly liberated people arrive at the polls only to discover that there is precious little left to vote for. But in Iraq, it's not too late to block that process. The key is to confine any transitional council's mandate to matters directly related to elections: the census, security, protections for women and minorities." [more]

"In fiscal year 2002, the Big Three received a total of more than $42 billion in Pentagon contracts ... This is an increase of nearly one-third from 2000, Clinton's final year. These firms get one out of every four dollars the Pentagon doles out for everything from rifles to rockets. In contrast, Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is underfunded by $8 billion a year, with the additional assistance promised to school districts swallowed up by war costs and tax cuts." [more]

" 'So much is being done in the name of New York, we are saying don't use our name to infringe on people's rights,' said Glenn C. Devitt, an organizer with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee." [more]

"Our assessment of the unsanctioned by the UN Security Council military operation against Iraq as a big political mistake remains in force it is necessary to think together about ways out of this situation and methods to solve the Iraq problem in line with the norms of international law, and about ways to ensure a better life for the Iraqi people." [more]

"The Palestinian leadership was infuriated by what it saw as European treachery. Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said: 'The United States, Britain and Germany ask the Palestinians not to have recourse to violence, but when the Palestinians have recourse to diplomacy they slam the door on us.'" [more]

"After 27 years as a CIA analyst, Ray McGovern knows a few things about propaganda. He notes that 'the "investigation" is slated to go past the election. Members will be picked by the president, and the scope is unconscionably wider than is necessary.' McGovern contends that 'the key question for 2004 is whether the administration's stranglehold on the media can be loosened to the point where the electorate can wake up, take away the president's driver's license and put an end to the reckless endangerment.'" [more]

A Vietnam veteran columnist reflects on the treatment of POWs. [more]

"Pakistan's approach to dealing with the problem has contrasted with the Libyan and the Iranian approach. Libyan's, under pressure, opted to essentially wrap up their nuclear program. Last week a US air force plane carried 55 tons of paper and equipment related to Libya's nuclear program to the US. Iran, meanwhile, under pressure gave 'South Asian' names to the IAEA inspectors divulging the source of their technology. Pakistan has resisted pressure to rollback its nuclear program, while choosing to take steps to enhance Pakistan's credentials as a responsible nuclear state." [more]